lords a'leaping

i love words. and i love when they come together to show me something special, something meaningful. they are just simple, just some letters on a page, but arranged by the hands of God, they have such power.

a friend gave me a plaque the other day that said "leap fearlessly". i loved the encouragement that that gave me in light of all we have been through and our current joy. when i think about the word "leap", i think of the commitment that takes. a jump can be small, easy, not a big deal. but leaping...that takes courage. i picture a dancer leaping beautifully across a stage, legs outstretched with no fear for how she will land, or a climber making a daring leap across a huge crevice in the rocks...all of that takes some big-time faith! to do it fearlessly...well that's just nearly impossible.

but for us, our fertility treatments were somewhat of a leap of faith. believing that God would perform a miracle for us has taken more of a leap than i ever thought possible. even now...watching that tiny baby in my belly...i believe with my whole heart that this baby will be healthy and i am daring to trust that we will even manage to make it to full-term. i am not fearless...but my God is. and He's the One who has given us this miracle. He is the One who is molding this baby, cell by cell, knowing full well what the outcome will be. He is the One, holding my hand through the fear, through the doubt, through the prayers, through the praise. so leaping isn't quite so difficult. i have a Dance Partner, a strong Climbing Rope, and someone on the other side of the crevice saying "you can do it. I am here."

a couple of days after my friend gave me the plaque, my grandmother and i were talking about our ultrasound results. she mentioned a story from Luke about a baby "leaping" in his mother's womb. she said hearing me talk about our little one moving from uterus to uterus made her think of that scripture. we laughed about it and later the Holy Spirit started speaking to me about leaping.

my mom found the scripture my grandmother was referring to, Luke 1:44-45. in this chapter, mary, the mother of Jesus, goes to tell her good friend elizabeth, that she is pregnant with the Son of God. elizabeth is pregnant with john at the time and is shocked and overjoyed by mary's news. when mary tells elizabeth her news, scripture says that elizabeth said, "as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. and blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."

not only do we have leaping here, but we have blessings given to a woman who believed on the promises of God, blessings for a woman who leaped. that doesn't always describe me, but i am blessed beyond measure, and i am thankful for the lessons the Lord has taught me in how to trust Him and how to believe in His faithfulness. regardless of our circumstances, He is faithful and everything He does is for our good.

His love is strong, His step is sure, and He will never leave me or my baby. so i am going to keep leaping. i may even point my toes when i do it.

our little houdini

most babies start out sweet, cuddly, warm, and fuzzy. ours will most likely be that way too, but today we got a preview of an extra adjective we will get to use: sneaky!

it really was the best day...ever...praise God for another good ultrasound! our little one has grown from 6.5mm to 22mm (almost triple the size!) and continues to have a strong heartbeat. while we were being mesmerized by the sound of that heartbeat, an incredible thing happened. our sweet baby started moving. it moved its little arm buds, wiggled its tiny legs, and arched its sweet little back. we were awestruck. i cried. jeremy just grinned. it was precious.

our doctor came in to talk with us, started laughing, and said a crazy thing had happened. our baby started out as just an egg (like everyone else) that came from my left ovary. our fertility treatments were all targeted towards my left uterus (if you're new to my blog, i have two. yes i said two). no one noticed anything on the last ultrasound, but on this one, our little houdini had managed to navigate over to the right uterus (not like everyone else). no one is totally sure how that happened, but the little thing seems quite content on the right side, so that is where it will stay i suppose. i think God had a little chuckle over that one. we weren't at all surprised...it's just par for the course for us.

i hope this sneaky behavior ends before this baby makes its debut into the world...and that it doesn't surface when those teenage years hit! somehow, i think i probably won't get my way on this one... we're going to have to watch this one like a hawk!

how's that baby?

see "what's going on in that oven!?" in the sidebar to the left weekly to see how our sweet baby is growing and changing! join us in thanking God for every finger and toe, every millimeter of growth, and every beat of a precious little heart!

rumbly in my tumbly

i feel like i am in a version of the book "Are You My Mother?" it's a cute little story. some little animal asks all the mama animals if they are his mother until he finds his real mother.

my version involves food and my question is not "are you my mother?" but rather, "will you make me nauseous?" overwhelmingly, the answer has been "yes". don't get me wrong...nausea means things are still going well, so while i lay on the couch moaning and groaning, i am thanking God for the rumbling queasiness in my tummy. however, i am still trying to find something to eat that won't make me nauseous! so far, the closest i can find to perfection is a peanut butter sandwhich and panera bread's chicken noodle soup. may God bless JIF and panera.

all this nausea is confirmation of the healthy fast little heartbeat we got to hear last week. i would be nauseous for the rest of my life just to sit and listen to that heartbeat. jeremy and i were speechless and completely amazed. in his words, "we will never forget that day".

so, while i do plan to stay away from mexican and italian meals (soooo not my friends...i feel betrayed!), i will embrace this blessing. and i would buy stock in panera if i were you.